2009 Republic Bank Holiday Classic (Girls)
Lexington Catholic High School
Lexington, Kentucky
December 18-22, 2009
© 2009 Ron Harrison

Lexington Catholic girls’ coach Tony Talbott has put together a great five days of basketball.  Seven of the top ten and fifteen of the top twenty-five teams in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are entered in this tournament.  They are #1 Marion County, #2 duPont Manual, #3 Christian Academy of Louisville, #4 Sacred Heart Academy, #6 Mercy Academy, #7 Bowling Green, #9 Elizabethtown, #11 Bullitt East, #12 Clay County, #13 North Hardin, #17 Montgomery County, #18 Lincoln County, #19 Lexington Catholic, #22 Nelson County, and #23 Webster County.

Many of the top players in the state are scheduled to play in this star-studded event.  Sixteen of the top twenty-five players in the Lexington Herald-Leader pre-season preview are featured in this tournament.  The players are #1 Samantha Drake (Nelson County), #2 Antonita Slaughter (Christian Academy of Louisville), #6 Makayla Epps (Marion County), #8 Rebecca Greenwell (Owensboro Catholic), #9 Kendall Noble (Breathitt County), #10 Natalie Greenwell (Elizabethtown), #11 Molly Ernst (Assumption), #12 Kayla Thacker (Bullitt East), #13 Therese Montano (Mercy Academy), #14 April Wilson (duPont Manual), #16 Destiny Bramblett (North Hardin), #18 Whitney Belle Jackson (Clay County), #20 Mary Jehlik (Montgomery County), #22 Bre Elder (Marion County), #24 Stephanie Householder (Webster County), and #25 Katie Allen (Highlands).

The Lexington Herald-Leader preview also listed the best players in each region, and the number one ranked player in seven of the sixteen regions is scheduled to play in this tournament.  The regionally ranked number one players in this event are (Region 3) Rebecca Greenwell, (Region 5) Samantha Drake, (Region 6) Kayla Thacker, (Region 7) Antonita Slaughter, (Region 9) Katie Allen, (Region 13) Whitney Belle Jackson and (Region 14) Kendall Noble.

This tournament also features two out of state teams in Community School of Naples (FL) and St. Joseph Central Catholic (WV).

There will be 61 games played in two gyms over a five day period, culminating in an overall championship game to be played on December 22nd.  I will attempt to provide a capsule report for each game with expanded coverage given to each game I personally view.  Spelling of players names varies from program to program and sometimes the heights of the players are not provided so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies.